It’s More Healthy to be a Republican!

According to this brand new Gallup survey, self-identified Republicans report having much better mental health than Democrats. Unlike other surveys, this one breaks it down beyond the typical demographic trends and finds that party identification has a stronger bearing on self-image:

“…An analysis of the relationship between party identification and self-reported excellent mental health within various categories of age, gender, church attendance, income, education, and other variables shows that the basic pattern persists regardless of these characteristics. In other words, party identification appears to have an independent effect on mental health even when each of these is controlled for.”

The report’s findings leave the door open to one’s own interpretation, however:

“…The key finding of the analyses presented here is that being a Republican appears to have an independent relationship on positive mental health above and beyond what can be explained by these types of demographic and lifestyle variables. The exact explanation for this persistent relationship — as noted — is unclear.”

Not to paint with broad strokes, but it seems to me that Dems and Libs tend to have a brooding miserable streak that is worrisome. Politically, they need Bush to fail (a symptom of lingering Bush Derangement Syndrome), which means everything Bush can get blamed or take credit for needs to fail too: the economy must collapse, racial tensions must be found everywhere, American interests abroad must be foiled, Iraq must be lost. Jeez, if I was so invested in my own country’s failure, I’d be pretty down too!

Also, Dems and Libs tend to be on this mission to save the planet from everything. In my experience I have found that people who invest all their energy in solving other people’s problems tend to lack introspection in their own lives. Maybe that’s why they can save the planet but have personal issues that affect their self-esteem and mental health negatively. Conservatives tend to understand that there are things outside our control and God, community and their own work ethic can mete out some of those problems. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some crazy Republicans, but I’ve met even more crazed Dems, even before Bush was President. So, this study doesn’t change any impression I had before I read it, but it reinforces some thoughts I’ve already had about the mental stability of the Left in this country.

The Dems are obsessed with saving the American People from…The American People. In their eyes we’re a danger to ourselves and each other. Our personal liberties and responsibilities are in direct contravention of the Dems’ pathological need to have a totalitarian secular government State – for “our own good” of course.

Let us also remember Shelby Steele and his recent book White Guilt . Wihtin the book, his thesis is that white Americans feeling sorry for themselves have harmed America greatly and also the African-American community. Most white Americans in this group tend to be liberal and will allow policy to symbolize the guilt and contempt for themselves that they feel.

This is nothing new and as Ryan has stated, the mental health issue has played a role in Democrat policy for years. Not all Republicans are perfect, but the other side of the aisle is much more greatly affected by mental health instability.